After Flirting, She Runs Away, Chasing the White Moonlight to the Ends of the Earth - Chapter 1

Haicheng, June.

The weekend night was in full swing.

Located in the bustling heart of the city, tucked away in a small alley, MIAN Bar was alive with chatter and laughter.

In one of the booths, two elegant figures were deep in conversation.

Tang Xin studied Ning Nai across the table before sliding a list toward her. “Do me a favor—pick one.”

Both twenty-seven years old, Ning Nai still radiated youthful charm.

Time had been kind to her beauty, leaving no trace of its passage. Dressed in a light beige off-shoulder knit that cinched at the waist, paired with a delicate rose gold collarbone chain, her outfit exuded effortless grace.

She looked nothing like the CMO of a multinational corporation—more like a fresh-faced college graduate.

Ning Nai skimmed the list and chuckled. “Total wipeout.”

Tang Xin gasped. “You don’t want to meet any of them?”

Sipping her orange juice, Ning Nai shook her head with a look that said, Don’t even think about it.

Tang Xin nearly leaped from the couch, gritting her teeth. “Do you have any idea who’s on this list? These are Haicheng’s most eligible bachelors—any one of them could have women lining up for miles!”

Only when she caught Ning Nai’s teasing gaze did she realize how that sounded. “I didn’t mean it like that—”

Thud.

Ning Nai set her glass down deliberately. “Let me guess—another assignment from Grandpa?”

Tang Xin froze. Busted.

It was Old Master Ning’s doing. He’d invited her for tea, pleading earnestly before presenting the list of golden bachelors. Xinxin, Ning Nai’s happiness is in your hands now.

Under the patriarch’s expectant stare, Tang Xin had genuinely believed her friend’s future bliss lay within that very list.

The lineup was undeniably impressive—enough to tempt anyone, if not for Tang Xin’s own preferences.

Cornered, she coughed awkwardly. “Ugh, you always know!”

“At least help me save face here.”

Ning Nai grinned. “Feel free to take one for the team. Consider it mission accomplished.”

Tang Xin nearly choked on her drink. Those men were not her type.

Looking back, this friend of hers had been the top student since high school—brilliant, beautiful, and perpetually swarmed by admirers.

Yet without fail, none had ever caught Ning Nai’s eye.

A bold thought struck Tang Xin. “Okay, hear me out—what if, like me, you’re into women?”

“Absolutely not!” Ning Nai snapped instantly.

The sharpness made Tang Xin flinch. “Jeez, no need to bite my head off! You scared me!”

Ning Nai took a slow sip of juice. That denial had carried a hint of guilt.

Because someone had once existed.

Just then, the bar band’s performance tapered off, quieting the room.

A heated argument from the next booth became unmistakably clear:

“So, you’re Lu Jin’an? Shameless homewrecker!”

The name Lu Jin’an hit Ning Nai like a spell, yanking her attention toward the source.

Through the lattice partition, the scene next door was visible—

A three-way showdown.

Lu Jin’an was clearly the main protagonist in this battlefield of love, sitting calmly on the sofa, unshaken by the surrounding chaos.

Dressed in an eye-catching outfit—a fitted red dress that accentuated her slender figure—with a cascade of thick, ink-black waves swept to one side, she boldly revealed a stretch of snow-white collarbone and an impeccably sculpted neckline.

She looked like a heroine who had stepped right out of a movie.

Her composed demeanor made it seem less like a battlefield and more like her own fishing ground.

Unfazed, Lu Jin’an lazily lowered her eyelids, as if handling the most mundane of matters.

Her red lips parted, but her words were swallowed by the blaring music. Yet, Ning Nai was instantly pulled into a flood of memories by that familiar face—

This was a woman who had left an indelible mark on her life back in high school. Back then, she had been the quintessential delinquent—skipping class, smoking, and getting into fights.

That she had evolved into this version of herself was hardly surprising.

But to think she had fallen so low.

In the brief moment Ning Nai zoned out, the confrontation next to them had already ended. The woman who had come looking for trouble left in dejection, leaving only Lu Jin’an and another woman on the sofa.

The victor’s demeanor needed no explanation.

Ning Nai averted her gaze, lowered her lashes, and sighed softly. The Lu Jin’an before her now was no longer someone from her world.

Her expression dimming, she was about to get up and leave when—

Tang Xin took a sip of her drink and remarked, “Seems like there are plenty of heartbreakers these days.”

Suddenly, she frowned. “Wait, doesn’t that woman look familiar? Have I seen her before?”

Ning Nai’s eyes flickered away, avoiding the question as she hurriedly exited the booth from the other side. Tang Xin followed closely behind.

By the time they reached the entrance, Ning Nai only muttered, “Some people are destined to be passersby. You might see them again, but you’ll never truly meet.”

Tang Xin mulled over the words, sensing something off about Ning Nai tonight.

Still puzzled after getting into the car, she sent a follow-up text: “Damn, Nai, since when did you get into philosophy?”

Running into Lu Jin’an hadn’t unsettled Ning Nai as much as she’d expected. By the time she returned to her apartment complex, her emotions had mostly settled—though fragments of high school memories still flickered in her mind.

Ten years had passed. For this woman to reappear in such a state…

Ning Nai had reserved a hollow space in her memories for this person for a decade. Yet now, seeing her again stirred nothing.

All that remained was a bitter chuckle.

Back in the booth—

Lu Jin’an took a sip of whiskey and teased her best friend, “Mianmian, let’s not do this kind of thing again, okay?”

“Feels kinda scummy.”

Xia Wumian rubbed her temples with a wry smile. “We agreed it was just physical, no emotional attachments. Who knew she’d go back on her word?”

Lu Jin’an nodded. “Mhm, sure, but I helped you dodge the bullet today. What about tomorrow?”

“Bottom line—you gotta change your approach to dating.”

The two had been inseparable since their school days. Even after Lu Jin’an spent years studying abroad, their bond remained unshaken upon her return.

Xia Wumian eyed the alluring figures flitting through the bar. “But I just crave that physical thrill, ugh.”

“Compared to your long-distance, platonic love, I must seem so shallow, huh?”

Lu Jin’an burst into laughter. “That long-distance crap ended ages ago. Who are you trying to annoy here?”

Xia Wumian looked slightly surprised. “Oh, so you’re single now?”

Back then, Lu Jin’an had crossed oceans for that long-distance relationship, staying in City Y for several years. Who would have thought it would all come to nothing.

Xia Wumian’s face lit up with excitement as she suddenly patted her friend’s shoulder. “Come on, point out anyone you fancy in this bar—I’ll go get their number for you.”

Lu Jin’an sighed, her interest waning. “Enough. I’ve got an important meeting first thing tomorrow. I’m heading back.”

If not for her friend’s urgent plea for help, Lu Jin’an wouldn’t have come out tonight, let alone to such a decadent place as a bar.

With a final warning—”Don’t go overboard~”—the night’s farce came to an end.